30 Kisses, or Fanning the Flames
by clockwork starlight
Summary: LJ comm 30kisses themes. An eccentric authoress. The Hyuuga flame, the Uchiha fan. A girl, a boy. A woman, a man. Shinobi, lovers. Children, monsters. A love is a love is a love no matter who you are or aren't. SasuHina COMPLETE. FIN. OWARI.
1. Look Over Here

Well, we all knew clockwork was a horrible person. Look what she's gone and done now. Gotten caught up reading stuff from the lj community 30kisses. And even though SasuHina isn't taken... I just couldn't be bothered to read through all those rules and expect myself to remember them. So really... I'm just stealing the themes... because even though I could be writing some of my other works in progress, making them less in progress but that means more work for me. I think it's nice to just have the option to come up with a snazzy new idea... and not need to worry about word count or plot or continuity.

These will probably all be stand alone pieces, and will most certainly if not AU at least be a different time in the Naruto Universe. Because twelve year olds should not be kissing for twue wuve. My corset stays are quivering at the mere thought.

Anyways! The authoress owns neither Naruto or anything affiliated with it. Nor is she in any official way to be associated with the livejournal community 30kisses

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Theme 1 ('look over here'): Training, or Don't Blink

"Look over here!" she chirped. Dark eyes weren't quite fast enough to catch her head ducking behind the trunk. He knew she had moved by the time his eyes rested on the tree.

Hide-and-seek. A childish game. They were ninja; ninja didn't have time for games. Exercises that aided training that were inconveniently similar to children playing, sure. Shinobi did _not_ play games. _He_ did not play games.

She on the other hand, was more than happy to make up for a childhood that she, as a ninja, could not have. So what if she was twenty? Maturity was knowing when to embrace childhood. Lightless eyes took note of his position, and then she moved. Hopefully he wouldn't catch her this time either.

"You're not very good at this game you know." She remarked next to his ear before disappearing again. He would blame his inability to move on her mouth that close to his skin later. First he had to catch the sneaky little bird.

"I told you, it's not a game. It's _training_." Narrowed black eyes darted about, trying to place his prey. He would not use Sharingan. He would not use Sharingan. He would not—

"Whatever you want to think. You're still losing."

Fuck that. He'd catch her next time she tried to move.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I never lose."

She didn't comment. He scanned the area as efficiently as he could. There was a blur, and—

"Never?" She asked innocently, even though his arm had pinned her hands across her chest, and she was being pressed into a tree, her lashes mere millimeters from tangling with his.

"Never." He confirmed, closing the distance between them. His lips brushed hers, and he watched as pale eyes fluttered at his touch. She could feel his smirk right before he pulled away.

"You're it."

* * *

Leave me love? 


	2. News

Whee... getting bored during work is probably not a healthy habit. Don't own Naruto, this is definately one of my more... outrageously OOC pieces I think...

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Theme 2 (news; letter): Like Family

The hawk landed gracefully on his arm. The cloth was not thick enough to lessen the prick of talons, but he didn't mind. He was more concerned with what the avian messenger had for him. The hawk eyed him, and he did not care for the rather contemptuous look he thought he saw in its eye. It wasn't his fault suddenly clumsy fingers would not cooperate in untying the tiny leather thong attaching the slip of paper to the arrogant bird.

There were a number of things that could have happened to prompt risking a message, Shinobi logic said whatever happened, happened, and he should just finish the mission so the squad could go back. The human part of him was too busy running a multitude of calamities that could have befallen Konoha, his friends or his family to really focus on anything else. Finally he managed to unfold the tiny piece of paper.

The other ninja looked on in unease as their leader tensed perceptibly.

"We're all going to die." He muttered, signaling. The ninja leapt into the trees, disappearing into the leafy canopy.

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Hinata was cradling her own tiny son, and Sakura's, so it was understandable that she was mildly concerned when Naruto charged into her house and swung Sakura into a wild dance that needed to music. He was preparing to do the same for her, despite her incoherent protests, until Sakura smacked him on the head hard enough to bruise. He merely laughed it off, with a cheerful. "Aww, Sakura. Don't be mean. It's official now!"

"So that message you sent me was three days premature?" The new voice did sound in the least amused.

"Sasuke!" Pale eyes lit up, however Hinata wasn't in any position to greet her husband as exuberantly as she would have liked.

"Dobe, don't touch my wife." Sasuke didn't bother looking at the widely grinning face of named Hokage successor. He merely crossed the room and completed the picture of happy family. A kiss for his wife, and a gentle hello for the current Uchiha heir and his godson, and an even gentler greeting for his next child.

"You're just jealous, Sasuke. C'mon Sakura, let's get Kakashi away from the icky Uchihas."

His son gave a shrieking protest at being removed from his godmother's arms only to be left into his father's. Naruto's eye twitched, more from everyone else's amusement at his continuing battle.

"He's his mother's son." Sakura declared, taking her child away from her husband, the soon-to-be Hokage. "He probably won't start talking to you until he's twenty." Naruto and Sakura bickered good naturedly as he helped her put her shoes back on, something he had forgotten to do as he careened into the Uchiha residence.

Marble white and flint grey eyes watched the family of three leave, blinking after the closing door. Obsidian black were too busy drinking in the picture to care.

"Taidama." He said finally.

"Okaeri." She whispered back, kissing him lightly, much to the amusement of the tiny boy between them.

* * *

ZOMGWAFF. Leave me love, babes and dolls. 


	3. Jolt!

Clockwork is at work. She's playing receptionist. And there just happens to be a computer with internet next to the phones. So really... not my fault.

Please note, this was done in NotePad, so spelling and grammar checks weren't actually an option.

Don't own Naruto, if I did, well, you can bet there would be some massively earth shaking changes. Oh, the things fate does for the Greater Good.

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Theme 3 (jolt!): What It Takes 

It took a hand laden with chakra mere millimetres from touching him above his heart. It took staring at her wide-eyed terror at what she had almost done. It took several seconds of standing there looking blank while she hovered between rushing over to check and just killing herself to save time.

It had taken him years to think she was in any way attractive. It had taken him months after that to think she was in any way good company. It had taken him weeks after that to decide to seek out her presence of his own volition. It had taken him days after that to realize she was actually in love with him.

It had taken puberty, appreciation for tradition, three festivals, a number of chance encounters and one pale purple kimono to realize she was pretty. It had taken countless unconscious observations, six cups of tea, and one conversation about ANBU standard issue katanas to realize she was both intelligent and tactful. It only took one impromptu sparring session to know she was strong. It took several formal dinners, a state function involving all of Konoha's Clans, fourteen ill willed comments, a sandelwood fan and hidden white eyes to realize she was also fragile. It took guilty darting glances, four shades of pink, and softly shuddering words to realize she was his to do with as he pleased.

It took a jolting dose of reality to realize she'd been touching his heart long before she had the skill to get so physically close to him.

It only took three quiet words, two hands and a pair of lips to tell her he was hers.

* * *

Well... repetition IS a literary device. So I'll repeat myself. Leave me love? 


	4. Our Distance

I've kind of fallen into this really bad habit of scribbling while I'm not doing anything at work. And because this is REALLY convenient for tiny little things like this... well. So not my fault. I have a rough idea of what I'm going to write for my other stories, but it's very rough, and is currently more of a belt. Which, for those of you (all of you) who haven't heard my high school econ teacher's take on writing. Papers should be like skirts, long enough to cover the essentials, short enough to keep things interesting. Anyway, new chapter!

Standard disclaimers apply, I'm still tres fabulous.

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Theme 4(our distance and that person): Observations  


There's always _some_one in the way.

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She's been joining their team for training, you see. Shino's been bug-napped by his father on some mission. Kiba has to train Akamaru in things Kiba can't teach. So Kurenai pulled strings, and possibly hair, to get her here.

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He can see it from the tree branches, and he can see it in her eyes.

He sees the prolonged glances she gives him, white eyes able to find him no matter where he stands, watching them all. He sees the quick, guilty peeks she takes watching Naruto train, even though her pupil-less eyes shouldn't be looking at all. He sees the careful, rueful looks she sends Sakura, who is always trying to find him. Even to the point of distracting herself during training.

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No one takes advantage of it, though.

Naruto would never hurt her. Hinata feels bad enough.

And Sasuke doesn't train during the day, with people who don't see him.

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Sasuke trains at night, usually with Hinata.

It's when she pays the consequences for all the times he catches her looking.

He'll teach her some new moves when he feels she's paid him the attention he deserves. Mostly as a reward for knowing who's on her mind, partly to feel her body move with his as he guides her.

He'll rebuke her sometimes, when she pays _him_ too much attention for his taste. He'll spar with her then, and she usually doesn't last too long in the face of his annoyance manifesting itself. It's a reminder of who is better, of who sees her, of who possesses her.

Sometimes he thinks she stares at Sakura too often. He makes her go through the basics over and over till he's satisfied; a light reprimand for feeling regret, for feeling guilt, for the unheard apology. For not loving him as single-mindedly as the other. For letting her compassion get in his way, for caring about the undeserving child.

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There's always _some_one in the way. Someone keeping him from owning her body, mind and soul every moment of the day.

That persistent flicker for Naruto, despite the already fervid burn she shares with the last Uchiha. That sympathy for the obsession that won't die. And her own lack of confidence and pride that keeps her from telling. She is the only one who cares what everyone else thinks, he holds his peace as a favor to her.

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Someday he'll tell her he loves her.

Someday she'll blush and tell him the same.

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For now he'll forgive her weaknesses.

For now she'll let him keep his darkly morbid outlook on life.

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Sometime soon, he'll buy her a small pendant on a long chain that only he will see.

Sometime soon, she'll make him a jar of balm that smells of tea leaves and musk and her.

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For the moment, he is content knowing he has her all to himself.

For the moment, it's alright that she's still unused to touch, because he is determined to reacquaint himself with her every chance he gets.

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Maybe tomorrow will be the day he kisses her in the sunlight and to hell with anyone who protests.

Maybe tomorrow she'll have the courage to hold him close and look him in the face, regardless of who sees her.

* * *

The spacing is kind of messed up, so you'll have to deal with the breaks, because MicrosoftWord allows double returns, which is more than can be said for the document manager. I, as authoress and therefore controller of all things clockwork, think the separations need to be there, because that's how I wrote it, and that's how it'll be done. Yes. Indeed. Button, button, who's got the button? 


	5. Ano Sa

I promise I'm working on my epics... They're just coming along kinda slow. It's so hard to work with expired inspiration, let me tell you. Anyway, clockwork owneth not yon fabulous bishi or anything affiliated with them. Up to and including merchandising and leasing rights. More's the pity. Ah well. Enjoy.

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Theme 5 ('ano sa…' or 'hey, you know…'): Interruptions

"Ano sa… Sasuke-kun?" The Hyuuga princess peeked around the side of the building, lashes fluttering in such a cutely innocent way that it should have been physically impossible and banned from the five major shinobi nations as a secret jutsu no one would survive.

"Can it wait?" Sasuke replied instead, eyes focused on the target a hundred paces away.

Hinata watched patiently, even though she was one nerve away from fidgeting, and distracting the Uchiha heir from his oh-so-important exercises. She watched as Sasuke executed a perfect throw, the kunai striking a little right of dead center. There was another kunai in his hand before she had a chance to say anything.

"Ano sa…" She moved closer, as if to stay his hand.

"It can wait." He said quietly, but with authority.

_It can… I don't know if I can._ Hinata shifted uncomfortably, she was usually a very patient person, but this really was urgent. Sundown was hours away, but Sasuke was _training._

The kunai sunk into the wood, a little to the left of the previous, but a fingerbreadth below it.

And Sasuke wouldn't stop _training_ till he was finished. _But…_

"Ano…"

"Hinata." It wasn't a request. He wondered if it really was that important. Absently, he flicked his hand toward the mark, and the weapon bit the much abused target, dead center. She flinched instinctively, at the unyielding way he'd said her name, at the dull thud of metal meeting wood.

Finally he looked at her. Timidly, her eyes met his. She parted her lips to try again.

"Ano—" She stopped.

The edge of a blade was resting carefully against her mouth. A little more pressure and a thin line of red would blossom against pale rose.

She didn't dare so much as breathe. He was watching her with hooded eyes, predatory gleam more than obvious from where she stood motionless before him. An eternity later this kunai also sank into the yielding wood. His eyes hadn't left hers.

She didn't bother trying to start again. There was a smirk to his lips, but he was still pretending to be an emotionless shinobi. Two more and he'd finish his set, and then maybe he'd let her talk.

Both hands flashed in motion, and the last two kunai hit their mark.

"I believe you were trying to say something?" He prompted casually, as if it weren't _his _ fault she was just about hyperventilating from the entire ordeal.

"Uchiha-Sasuke-will-you-marry-me?" she managed to blurt out, proposal only slightly muffled by the hands that covered her mouth.

He stared at her utter bewilderment. Which for Sasuke, meant his eyebrows were maybe a little higher than usual, and the frown besetting his face was lukewarm, not frigid.

"I need an answer before sundown." She mumbled sheepishly. It really wasn't any use trying to explain it all, but she tried anyway. Being around Sasuke should come with a warning label, advising against serious thinking. "They didn't see fit to tell me till _today_ I had to decide three days before my birthday. If I'm not a Hyuuga, they can't make me Head of the Clan. And then they'd have to make Hanabi Head, and I wouldn't even have to worry about being on the council, because I wouldn't even be a Hyuuga and you—" her babbling compensation was rudely interrupted.

Obviously, Uchiha Sasuke had never been told he should ask before giving girls kisses that had their minds reeling and senses curling up and crooning.

Hinata was still recovering hers as Sasuke pulled back to look at her. His eyes were considering, calculating, but there was a hint of teasing affection in the way he was regarding her flushed face and silent sputters.

"That was a yes." He said helpfully.

"Thank you?" She whispered, at a complete loss as to what exactly one said when one's marriage proposal was accepted.

"You're welcome." He whispered back dryly. The utterly sarcastic tone of voice did nothing to diminish the onslaught of pink to her face, as the cynical delivery was right against her already-thoroughly-kissed lips. It was really all the warning she had before he kissed her again. Thoroughly.

* * *

Clockwork isn't quite sure what hit her on the head to lead to this... but it seemed like a good idea at the time. The time being around one in the morning last night, but then document manager was all 'No, I don't think so, Sasuke-chippie' so in the cold light of day, we present you with whatever the cat left outside. Leave me some semblance of love?  



	6. Between Dreams and Reality

TINY CHILDREN TAKE NOTE! Adult themes skimmed over, but the gist is present.

Clockwork is playing with fire, and suggests anyone who has issues with her delivery of information please take it up with a hungry pirahna.

Thank you for your patience, and please remember that clockwork starlight does not own Naruto, anything affiliated with it, and suggests that you NOT step on sea cucumbers.

* * *

Theme 6 (the space between dreams and reality): Awaken Me

Sometimes sleep is a bad idea. For both of them.

Sometimes sleep opens the doors; dark, ominous, heavy doors, the kind of doors that have suspicious red stains on them. The doors to dreams.

The kind of dreams that take the past and cast inky black shadows on the future. That summon the 'what if's and 'could have been's and turn them into things grotesque and obscene.

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Sometimes she'll wake up screaming, remembering the haunting faces of her friends as they die by her hands, hands that can't save them. Sometimes she dreams that it's _his_ face, bloody and hateful in her lap. Sometimes her imagination gives her agonizingly familiar scenes. Sometimes she wakes up, and her hand goes to her heart, where she'd swear she felt her cousin's hand melt through flesh and burn her very soul.

Sometimes she dreams of drowning, of following an unknown enemy into treacherous waters, deceptively calm, because they wear _his_ face. Sometimes she falls, into an endless bright light, where she can't hide anything from her own critical eyes, not her fears, not her tears, not herself.

Sometimes she wakes up panting, heart racing, unable to do more than whimper and cling frantically to the drowsy body beside her. A blink and all sleep will be chased away and he'll hold her close and not ask questions. He'll sit there and listen as she tries to go back to sleep, muttering seals under her breath. Dragon, Pig, Horse, Dragon, Dog… She daren't count sheep. Because counting sheep could turn into counting bodies, and she has enough dreams of those. Sometimes she'll fall back into dark slumber, and he'll allow himself to rest again. Sometimes not even going over every technique she knows is enough, and he'll tell her it's only so _he_ can rest and not have to listen to her go over them again, and he'll bring his arms back around her, and force her breath to match his.

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Sometimes he'll wake up because his hand is clutching his neck, and he relives the pain of every wound he's received in his life. Sometimes he relives the pain of one single night, he'll wake up and the scent of blood will still linger. He still hears his brother's words; he remembers the feeling of utter hopelessness and hate. Sometimes he dreams that it's _her_ blood dripping to the floor, seeping past the wooden boards, committing her essence to the very earth, refusing to let her memory fade as her body did. He wakes up from those dreams terrified, unable to even croak a tortured whisper. And that scares him the most. Because he shouldn't let this one woman, who shares everything with him, have that much power over him.

Sometimes he wakes up and can't find it in himself to do more than sit there and stare at his hands, pale, luminescently so, the unearthly glow covering the stain of red. And he never knows exactly when, but suddenly he'll realize she's awake and she's been singing to him, embracing as much of his lean frame as she can. She'll run her fingers through his hair, kiss his cheeks, chasing away tears he's never shed. Sometimes he doesn't dare go back to sleep, and so she lets him crush her body against his, and two pairs of eyes, equal and the same in the vast darkness, wait for the sun to rise.

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This place isn't their reality. They don't belong in a place of fear and insecurity. Their reality is one of happiness, and understanding and a hundred things that don't need words to describe, because mere words can't do it. In reality, he is strong, and so is she, and his darkness is offset by her smile, and her darkness is made tolerable by his presence.

In their reality, he thoroughly enjoys making love to her, because unless he pays close attention, he can't tell where his body ends and hers begins, or is it the other way around? That would require paying close attention to the sight of his body against her, but why would he be staring when he could be doing something else? In everyone else's reality, he is cold, distanced, and it's a wonder he ever managed to find a wife.

In their reality, she'd die of embarrassment before confirming that it really _is_ the quiet ones you had to watch out for, and she definitely counts Sasuke among that number. And she'll certainly never tell anyone the things he's said to her, moaned to her, whispered to her, when _she's_ making love to _him_, because prim and proper heiresses weren't supposed to know the kinds of things and tricks that reduced men to gelatin. In everyone else's reality, she is quiet, formal and how on earth did find herself married to him?

In reality, they are husband and wife, two shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, son and daughter, father and mother. In reality he doesn't like long hair, and she doesn't really have a thing for blondes. In reality she is his lifeline, anchoring him to the world, giving him a reason to stay. In reality he is her pillar, chained to him, she can not help but stand tall and flaunt her defiance of the world's cruelties.

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The problem with dreams is that they distort reality, so the space between dreams and reality, between sleeping and waking, between the night and the day, that's where they allow themselves to be weak. Because eventually you forget what you dream, and you live in the waking world and no one else needs to know how you broke and were remade in that hazy place, with the one you love.

* * *

Well... that's the most I've written for one of these ever. It was just such a spiffy theme, I couldn't help but... embellish it. I'll take comments and questions, criticism will have a surcharge of a nickel. I'll be rich! And I got to write pseudo-smut. It really doesn't have much purpose in the story... but it was over 300 words, so you know... whatever.  



	7. Superstar

Betcha never thought Uchiha Sasuke would be the new Zoolander. I own/influence neither Naruto nor Ben Stiller. Who is comedic genius and professionally good-looking for this picture. It's been a while since I did anything for my SasuHina pieces, hasn't it? I should work on the bigger ones, but they're giving me so much trouble. It's 'tres sad' as my beloved roomie would say. It was kind of a weird theme to work with, so you know... I don't know if I worked it well. For serious.

Oh, and I don't Monty Python's Flying Circus. Which is the reference for the Spanish Inquisition and it's comfy chair and soft pillows. In case you know... anyone got that. And spiffy red uniforms.

_

* * *

_

Theme 7('superstar'): A New Day. That's D-A-I-Y-E._  
_

_How did it happen? When did it happen? Just what events triggered this rolling snowball? It's not _every_ day really, really, ridiculously good looking male models end up married to classical pianists. I'm Ito Suzume, here with Hyu—whoops, Uchiha Hinata, asking the questions everyone wants to know the answers to._

_Ito: So, Uchiha-san, I know I'm not alone when I say I am _dying_ to know how on earth you, a musician, managed to fall in love with—_

_Uchiha: A male model? _The_ male model? Honestly, it's not that hard. Have you _seen_ some of the shots he's done? I imagine fourteen year olds all over the country were determined to marry him._

_Ito: Except that you've beat them to it. laughs It's Uchiha… so hot right now and likely for a long time yet, Sasuke. I know I wouldn't have said 'no'._

"What are you watching?"

Hinata nearly lost her grip on her tea. "S-Sasuke! You're awake!"

"Obviously. It's what people normally do this late in the day." A glance at the clock revealed that most women weren't normal, because who in their right mind was willingly awake at 8.03am on a Saturday?

"I-it's just you got in rather late, a-and I didn't think you'd want me to wake you up." Hinata supplied weakly.

"You sneaking out of bed, at what you would normally consider 'an ungodly hour', was an incentive. I'd repeat my first question," his mouth twisted into a grimace of distaste, "but I don't need to." He eyed the two women in their comfy looking chairs on the screen. It looked like the Spanish Inquisition was having a fairly successful interrogation, and no one had needed to bring out the soft cushions.

_Uchiha: —party an acquaintance in the agency was holding. He was, if I remember correctly, trying to escape an entourage. Watching him was making me dizzy, so the next time he crept by my booth, I pulled him in…_

"Thank god for strobe lights." Sasuke muttered, pulling up a seat next to his wife, and turning up the volume, who'd had it nearly silent in her efforts not to wake him.

"Night vision does tend to work less well after you've had several cocktails." She allowed.

_Ito: Vultures? How… romantic?_

_Uchiha: A male model near tears of relief isn't exactly the moment a girl's heart decides '_he's the one'

"I was not near tears." Sasuke protested vehemently. "And for all I knew you were some other fangirl that was going to have her wicked way with me."

_Uchiha: Well, we started talking, once he realized I wasn't going to manhandle him any more than make sure he survived being yanked into dark abyss. Turned out he liked my music, and I had a weakness for vampiric appearances. _

"Three months later, you'd probably have been on your knees at the possibility I would, darling. Syrup?" She asked, as an innocent afterthought, offering him the jug.

"There's nothing to put syrup on." He pointed out. Before he could question whether she was truly awake, she revealed her dastardly plot.

"So there isn't. You should make French toast. Or waffles." She smiled up at him, chin resting on interlocked fingers.

"I swear I married your sweet tooth, and nothing else." Grousing audibly, he got up and reached for his 'Kiss the Cook' apron.

"But you have a torrid affair with the rest of me, so stop whining." She retorted, turning up the volume again so he could listen as he rattled about his kitchen. "Oh, _this_ part." She turned her attention back to the TV, as Sasuke paused in his quest for flour.

_Ito: So, Hinata, the one question on every woman's mind, and maybe some of the men, _how_ is he?_

_Uchiha: He's fine, thanks for asking. He's been a little overworked as kind of a punishment for eloping. Everyone wants a shot of the 'prettiest married man in the world' on a spread advertising for _them

_Ito: That's not what I was asking, and you know it. _

The screen cut to commercial. Sasuke had found his flour and was looking for the baking soda, but turned back when he heard his wife giggling.

"They cut it out. I suppose it's for the best."

"What did you say?" He asked, resignedly.

"It wasn't me, she started it. She asked, and I quote, 'Is Uchiha Sasuke as lifeless in bed as he is on camera?'"

"I repeat, what did you say?"

"He is when he's sleeping." She delivered her line with a completely straight face, and was rewarded with the nastiest glare one can muster when one can't remember where one put the sugar.

"I should burn your waffles."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You wouldn't dare leave your new wife reeling from hunger, not after all the effort we put into eloping. I know you're family's been making 'official wedding' noises."

"And I guess you only get that from your sister and maybe your cousin."

"Disowned pianist. I don't make enough to afford the wedding everyone thinks we deserve. And it's supposed to be the bride's family who pays so…" She gave him an indifferent shrug.

"You last name is Uchiha now, so technically it is your family who will be footing the majority of the bill."

"And here I thought the best part about you was your face. Now you're telling me you have smarts? I may have to divorce you."

"And live without the chocolate torte? Somehow I doubt that." The kiss he left on her cheek spoke of a thousand reasons beyond words how he knew she'd stay.

* * *

At least I know I'll never get into writing professionally. Spare my dignity and immoral I mean immortal soul, all that jazz.   



	8. Our Own World

Oh how long do the days pass. And you thought I was dead. Only mostly. Stiill don't own it. The post must be late getting in.

I rather think it far too remniscent of the other, but eventually I get tired of trying to find something new and original and sparkly. blah.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theme 8 (our own world): Perspective

The village looks warm and comforting, bathed in the light of the rising sun. But they stand in shadows not yet dispelled by the weak glow, watching the radiance catch on the glass windows. Above the village and its people, yet still somehow a part of it. People who know their names, know who they are, know what they are capable of; people they are there to protect, people who accept them, yet can not hope to wholly understand them.

He watches her watching the sun begin its ascent; watches sunbeams kiss her skin; absorbs the glow of her skin, porcelain returning the bright favors as pearly luminescence. In this dawn quiet, they are not a part of the slowly waking people, not a part of the shadows they are infamous for hiding within. For now all he sees is her, and all she sees is a new day, with him by her side. That it will possibly be the last day, or the first doesn't matter, not right now. When the day finally starts, she may be asked to take his life, or give it back to him. He may be told to end a life, or protect it with his own.

She watches a few men and women leave the comfortable dimness of their houses in their routine mundanity. The most excitement they may have today is future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto pass through on some self important errand. Or maybe they will watch as the Village goes to war. Or perhaps nothing at all will happen, and it will be another day wasted in inertia, another meaningless grain of sand slipping through the glass.

She's leaving. Getting caught up in _that_ world. Forgetting that the day hasn't fully begun, that she can't leave the peace of their own place just yet. In what must be a fit of unusual insecurity he pulls her back into the fading shadows.

How many times have they kissed Death on the cheek, wondering if this time they'd be kissed back? They've lost count, and they've lost the desire to try. Here, in the moments when the sun kisses the moon before the day truly begins, they forget everything but what it feels like to be _here_, in this moment, in a world separate from everything but each other. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think I appreciate the lack of line break button function. Someone should fix it. I for one, am a huge fan of division. Math majors do it by number. I'm only mildly on crack. We think it's the combination of Eddie Izzard DVDs and cream soda and general thank god it's Friday feelings. If you don't review, we may have to set the evil giraffe on you.


	9. Dash

Yes yes, clockwork is a bad person who needs to get her priorities straight. No no, I'm not on crack... we prefer to call it 'oddity'. Standard disclaimers apply and stick, like Orochimaru's eyeliner. And if any one wants to tell me, again, that I'm an idiot for that, and god forbid, making _fun_ of him for it, I got a very viscous, yes viscous, kitty here who'd chew your toes off.

I guess the point of the themes is to provide a challenge, but some of them I just don't know what to do with. Eh well.

* * *

Theme 9(dash): Flavor

"But it's not _perfect_!"

"Don't care."

"But it _needs_ the orange. Can't you hear it? It's begging you Sasuke."

"I don't like orange."

"But this isn't about you." Ino tapped her wooden spoon threateningly against her pal. "I can and will resort to ninjutsu to get that fruit from you."

"If you can." Elegant, aristocratic hands tossed the sphere from one hand to the other.

"Why'd you ask me if you're weren't planning on letting me do things my way?"

"Perversity."

"I promise you Sasuke, the orange is necessary. Now gimme!"

"No."

"You leave me no choice. Henge no Jutsu!" Ino settled into the proper pose for her strategy. "Onegai… Sasuke-kun." Ino-Hinata pressed her hands to her chin, looking up at the irritated ninja through a veil of black silk.

"How does anyone live with you?" He asked, wondering if he should just set the bloody orange on fire.

"I-I don't understand…" Hinata's voice mocked him in it well done fakery.

"How do you put up with her?"

"You're talking to me?"

Shikamaru, who had only wandered in for a glass of water, looked annoyed at being dragged into the confrontation.

Hinata turned back into Ino. "Shikamaru! Make him give me that damn orange!"

"All this fuss over a fruit? You really are troublesome."

"Doesn't matter! Citrus. Now."

The genius nin did the best thing he could think of under the circumstances. He turned and walked out of the kitchen. Sasuke smirked triumphantly.

That is, until Ino caught the flying orange orb with a smirk that rivaled his own.

"Thanks, handsome." She called to the unresponsive hallway. "Now." She turned back to her cake batter. "To finish the cake you asked me so nicely to make."

Sasuke left his much abused orange on the counter. With a cleaver in it to keep it out of trouble.

--

"It was a wonderful cake, Ino. Thank you for making it for me." Hinata put another slice of her birthday cake on Sasuke's plate.

"It's in the dash of citrus. Now you know why everyone calls it a 'Kiss of Sunshine'." The blonde gave Sasuke a brilliant smile. Sasuke simply flipped her off.


	10. 10

It's not really very impressive... but it's better than more math. Which I have an overabundance of, I assure you. I really shouldn't be surprised, I _am_ a math major. We're still not sure why. Disclaimers apply, though they oughtn't need to by now, I don't own Naruto, no one else owns this. Who'd steal this?

* * *

Theme 10 (#10): Idle Thought

It was the tenth meeting he'd seen fit to come to. Not that she'd been counting or anything weird like that. Well she might have been, one never knew what kind of information Tsunade found useful. And Tsunade found some of the oddest things useful, but she was usually right, so who was Hinata to question her? Hinata was just a secretary. And he… well he was just a very important shareholder.

Was the Devil allowed to wear Armani?

Of course, she couldn't be sure he _was_ wearing Armani, that would imply she'd been paying more attention to his exceedingly well cut suit, and not to the power point presentation she'd sat through nine times already, making sure her boss sounded like she knew what she was doing, and actually cared about it.

Hinata figured she was justified in tuning out for a minute or so. She was supposed to be noting how the other men and women in the board room were reacting to the information, but they all had that politely interested but not particularly involved mask down as well as she did. And their salary didn't depend on being seen as some easily bought chippie with no idea what the word discretion meant. And 'politely interested but not particularly involved' is exactly what she would tell Tsunade after the meeting, preferably during lunch.

If she had had any inclination of bonding with her boss, commenting on Uchiha Sasuke's sense of fashion would be one approach. Tsunade didn't keep herself looking twenty five for perverted old lechers. However Tsunade was firmly of the opinion that, despite the blonde, blue eyed trophy wife he kept at home, Uchiha Sasuke was completely gay. Probably for the pool boy. Hinata did agree that he certainly looked like a chronic case of 'kiss the dog, pet the wife', if only because he still exuded 'untouchable bachelor'. There _had_ been a great deal of speculation regarding his sudden agreement to holy matrimony, of all things, in the middle of debutante season. But those would be uncharitable thoughts, and she really shouldn't be thinking them when his very bored gaze met her very blank guarded one. That passed, and she knew that had she been someone else, she might have wondered how far she'd go to become the sole focus of those depthless black eyes.

Maybe in another world.


	11. Gardenia

If it were a choice between cake or death, I might just pick death. Here's to Henry the VIII's Psychotic... I mean Church of England. You'll forgive the Eddie, I had to indulge otherwise I really might have killed myself with a protracter while working on that stupid project. And I will be the first to tell you that death by protracter is not a comfortable thing, and really should be a fate avoided at all costs.

Disclaimers are floating around somewhere, but I'm not really worried anyone is going to mistake me for Kishimoto-sensei.

* * *

Theme 11 (Gardenia): Memory, Sweet Memory

When she worked in the gardens, crawling on hands and knees, she reminded him of his own mother. Not that his mother had gardened, but his kaa-chan had appreciated beauty. Somehow she'd passed that particular trait on. Perhaps it was because he was shinobi, the antonym of cultivation and reverence. Shinobi were symbols of death and discord, to see one at such utter peace in a place of growth and tranquility was absurd. And yet it wasn't. Hyuuga Hinata had never managed to perfect the art of being anything other than herself. It was natural to picture the princess and kunoichi with a smudge of dirt on her cheek, and the scent of sage to chase away the iron tang of blood. And he always thought she was beautiful.

For him, such a simple thing as an embrace had long been a luxury he wouldn't allow himself. He hadn't realized trying to break her of the same distance would do the same for him. Catching her in the kitchen, or in the narrow halls, or slipping out of her shoes; an arm around her waist, his nose buried in the bend of her neck, inhaling the soft vapors of vanilla. They both knew he was saying 'I'm glad you're here'. And every time, she'd reply with a quick press of lips against his cheek. 'I'm glad to be here'.

They say scent is the strongest link to memory, that certain smells will bring back a person's certain memories. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't. Blood was blood, and the sharp, metallic tickle would never change. Nor would the fact that he never let himself forget he had been an Avenger, sometimes buried beneath the ephemeral present, but always lurking, the reminder of why he fought. Another reminder walked the empty halls of the Uchiha house, humming under her breath, a lilt in her quiet steps.

The life of a shinobi is hardly a clean and cozy fairytale. It is bloody, riddled with the emotions one learns to repress. Sweat and labor are not the only stenches that permeate the black ANBU cloaks, there is also fear, guilt, and there is always blood. It was these she tried to scrub off her skin every night she could. He never faulted her for the memories she could not escape. Sometimes he wondered if they would ever be clean again. If he would ever be sane, be human again.

And when he breathed in the fragrance of gardenia in the damp raven hair as Hinata snuggled into him, he told himself he already was.


	12. In a Good Mood

I'm not completely dead. So stay out of my pockets.

And I own zip anyway, not Naruto, not the stuff affiliated with it, not a houseplant, not even a jar of dirt.

* * *

Theme 12 (in a good mood): Perennial

Some things are understood within the universal scheme of things. Some things it takes large rocks falling out of the sky and destroying buildings to change. Uzumaki Naruto was loud and, more often than not, obnoxious. Rock Lee was… an interesting character, and one should avoid setting him off about flowers at all costs. Sasuke was in an eternal bad mood, with varying degrees of moodiness. It was how the world worked. It was a good world. It was a familiar world, and everyone had their place in it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It started with a smile, a tiny quirk at the corner of his mouth when he watched her. There was just something about the way she pressed her hands into each other that was undeniably cute, even to him. No one really noticed when it started appearing. No one even noticed that it was there, no one except a hovering shadow with practically 360 degree vision.

It grew with the fresh air of spring. You couldn't deny the romance and pollen in the air, often the only escape from one was in the welcome of the other. Girls took the opportunity to find pretty kimonos for themselves or for their shyer cohorts. Spring was the perfect time for them, after all. And with eyes the color of the clouded sky and the delicate figure she made wrapped in tradition and patterned cotton, he found himself hard pressed not to watch her. And, if one were paying very close attention, one might note the presence of what could be termed as a 'slack jawed' expression on his face as he did so.

It worsened in the heat of summer. Emotions were always closer to the surface because control was that much harder to maintain. Moods rarely improved when you could easily cook an omelette on your hitai ate. And yet one had to wonder at the mentality of shinobi, for most willingly subjected themselves to intense summer sun and sweat, to train. Although there were benefits to being in the training grounds in the stifling heat. Taijutsu and, of more interest, Juuken users, didn't tend to wear as much. And even then it clung to skin and curves.

The bite of winter did nothing to stop the nascent expressions cracking his mask. He hadn't given much thought to trying, honestly. She had taken to smiling at him, he ignored the part where she was taught to be polite and give the same courtesy to everyone. Besides, with his eyes, he thought he could see the difference between the socially acceptable politeness and the softer, shyer hesitation in greetings.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

She was surprised, and not when he kissed her lightly. She blushed and stammered and asked why.

He gave her the easiest reason he could think of when the majority of his attention was on her.

"You put me in a good mood."


	13. Excessive Chain

No, no I can't even plead temporary insanity. I am in the process of taking a creative writing class though. So maybe we'll plead inexperience. I own zip, as per usual, it's a sorry sad state of affairs, but it's my state of affairs, so we work with it.

* * *

Theme 13 'excessive chain' : Inevitable

They say it is the crimson thread of fate that binds two souls together. That is unbreakable, weightless, invisible; that it will lead one to the other. Sasuke, in his more contemplative moments, would disagree. Mere string does not convey the intensity of this destiny, with her blue black hair and luminescent smile. It is a chain; the only time it is not heavy and oppressive is when her toes skim his ankles, when there is no distance between them, when there is no room for longing. It is never a comfortable weight, however familiar it is. It drags, pulling him downward with every link 'til he can ease the ache in the release of her lips.

Mother said someday she'd see where the red thread of destiny led her. That some day, maybe many long lonely years later, she'd see the other end, looped around the ankle of the one who would complete her. It might not be the first time she would meet him, but eventually she'd find him. Mother never said he'd take pieces of her with him when he left. Mother never said it was possible to be so dependent on another's presence. Mother never said every time would be beautiful as the first, never said the only red in her life would be in his eyes, never said she'd breathe in time with him as he held her, never said he'd love watching her. Mother never had the chance to say a lot of things, but Mother didn't need to, because Hinata found them out on her own, once she realized what she saw on the pale jade of his skin was red silk thread.


	14. Radio Cassette Player

Reread jules' gift fic to me, A Wish Come True, and wanted to see how well I'd manage. I luff you bunches of lemons, jules, if you're reading this. I own nothing, it's better that way.

* * *

Theme 14 ('radio cassette player'): Necessity

The words played over and over in her head like a jammed cassette player after each pause he made to suit words to action. She wondered what she might call this new shade of red. It was one thing to _know_. It was another thing entirely to be _told_ he loved the taste of her fluttering heartbeat against his lips, the contrast of her hair against her skin, the not contrast of his skin against hers, the velvet sensation of taking her any way he could. Sentences broken with harsh, ragged breaths, words that burned against her flesh, imprinted themselves in her mind; it was so much more intimate when he told her all the things she did to him, all the things he wanted to do to her, that she didn't know if she could take it.

All those feelings and thoughts coiled inside her, no way to be expressed _except_ through the moist crush of lips, the uneven reverence of his name, the near frantic worship her hands rendered to his body.

The searing heat of her skin always tingled with ice in the wake of his touch, and she could never be sure which she felt more deeply, the penetrating intensity of his gaze or the delicious friction when he filled the dearth in body and soul. Black had never held so many facets and nuances until she really looked into his eyes.

Somehow it never took much for him to find her mesmerizingly tempting, and he didn't know what tasted sweeter, the flavor of his name on her lips or the silvery testament to how much he adored and venerated her through her body.

She was a cup overflowing, and he was both cause and cure. Such a cruel dependency, divine as it was. To rely on the source of tension to ease it; when it suited him _not_ to create even more. Her only retribution was that he needed her as much as she needed him.

He needed the soft press of her lips like oxygen as much as she needed the firm press of his fingers exploring every part of her as if it were the first time. She needed to hear that level, unemotional mask shatter with the guttural rumbles censored in her skin. He needed to know the Uchiha genius was still capable of miracles, like the wantonly indecent sounds he knew how to draw from the oh-so-proper heiress. She would never admit to being addicted to the break in his control, even though he knew she knew he knew she was. It always amazed her how much she could do to him, and he reveled in showing her time after time after time. He found he could revel many things; with her, from her, in her, on her.

She left an indelible mark on him, one that only grew brighter with every minute he spent with her, with every memory they made. It was the rekindled life in his eyes, the corner of his mouth that twisted into his version of a smile more often then before. She brought him peace and indescribable rapture, the lilting snatches of melody from a far off radio.


	15. Perfect Blue

This may or may not prove definitively that all women have weddings on the brain. I can't help it. I had one friend get hitched at the beginning of the year, and I've got another who'll be a Mrs. by fall. It's just so exciting to think about.

I own zip. It's better that way I'm told. Blatant disregard for a lot of things notwithstanding... don't much like it, but what can you do? Not like_ I _know what in blazes is supposed to go on before a wedding. It's never come up.

* * *

Theme 15 (perfect blue): Decisions, Decisions

"Well, how about this?" Sakura held a swatch of cloth next to her cheek. "It'll go great with the white…"

"Forget it, forehead-girl! I may wear orange t-shirts when the mood strikes me, but I refuse to wear yellow as a bridesmaid." Ino was practically snarling at her best friend.

"Lavender?" Hanabi turned to her sister holding out the light purple material. Hinata took it and lined it up with her squabbling cohorts.

"I think it's mostly a question of getting a color to agree with _both_ Sakura and Ino's hair colors. A paler lavender might work…" Hinata looked at her friends again. They were still going strong, so perhaps she and Hanabi should move on.

"Well, there's always blue." Hanabi remarked thoughtfully. "But it'll have to be the perfect blue."

"Blue's a nice color, calming but not necessarily sober." Hinata picked up a bolt of sky blue and stared at it. "Ino offered to supply blue roses for the wedding itself, but I think I prefer the heliotrope." She remarked more to herself, trying to picture how the blue would look against the archways.

"It'll make the white stand out, which is the general idea, because it's _your_ day." Hanabi frowned at the array of dress designs and fabric samples. "I think blue is our best bet for bridesmaid gowns. Now… the question is… how the hell we're going to find the right blue."

-.-.-.-.-

"Traditional wedding huh?" Ten Ten eyed the three men. Considering who the bridesmaids were, she was decidedly glad she hadn't been asked to help them go dress hunting. Sasuke had, in a fit of brilliance, asked her Neji to do the bachelor party, obviously smarter than to ask his best friend, because God knew what would happen. Once that had been all taken care of and Naruto's mouth had been duct-taped shut, the three musketeers had wanted to go and shoot pool. She'd gone along to prevent death by boredom, and maybe crush some male ego. Conversation naturally fell to the upcoming nuptials.

"So who's buying the garter?" She asked innocently, watching Neji fumble, the cue glancing off the top of the white ball sending it leisurely rolling nowhere in particular. "'Cause I think the ladies will be a bit preoccupied with the bridesmaid dresses." She watched Sasuke line up his shot, timing her next comment very carefully.

"And Hinata's lingerie."

The purple ball really didn't have a chance. It shot into the frame of the table and bounced off while the cue ball recovered from its ricochet by trying to break Neji's hand. Which instead caught it, despite the stinging shudders going up his arm.

"Are you quite done?" he asked his girlfriend calmly, setting the ball back on the table. The Uchiha had not moved from where he leant on the table, dark eyes glaring at the brunette.

"I'm sure something will come to me. It'll probably involve Sasuke's removal of the garter and whether we're going to make him use his teeth."

"Are you sure she's a good influence?" Sasuke asked his fiancée's cousin, pointedly not looking at Ten Ten, who was casually examining her nails.

"Careful Uchiha. Or the only thing blue at the wedding is going to be your—"

"Quiet you." Naruto managed to shove the lemon wedge from his Long Beach Iced Tea into his friend's mouth. It was a testament to testosterone solidarity that her boyfriend did not blink at the manhandling. "Payback for the duct-tape." Naruto explained.

Ten Ten refrained from pegging him with the remains of the fruit, she took to rolling the 2 ball between her hands absently. "So who knows what the four 'something's are going to be?" The problem was, she decided, taking in the blank stares, being a girl without being rabidly girly. The company may not have been as annoying, but it certainly wasn't better. "Uncouth idiots." She muttered.

"You mean that old saying?" Naruto asked, realization finally dawning as he pieced Sakura's ramblings together with Ten Ten's.

"Something old, something new; Something borrowed, something blue; And a silver sixpence in her shoe." Ten Ten recited. "I know the veil is her mother's. I'm sure the exceedingly expensive, custom ordered and very pretty dress will count as 'new'. And I know Ino was out to lend her a cameo. So that just leaves 'something blue', cause I took it upon myself to special order one of those shiny coins, direct from England. Got any ideas, Uchiha?"

"Yeah. Put the ball back where it was. It's your turn, Hyuuga."

-.-.-.-.-

The only real words he could come up with were _she sparkled_. She was gorgeous, she was amazing, and she was _his_.

The only thing filling his vision was the wash of cream colored satin and pale creamy skin. The crest of foam that bore Aphrodite to earth; glittering soft white against blue lapping gently at his mind. The wedding itself passed in the blink of an eye, and suddenly he was dancing. Dancing with death to a lightly romantic love song. And she _would_ be the death of him.

It wasn't till after he'd nipped her leg several times, 'by accident', in his attempts to retrieve the garter; after he'd nonchalantly tossed it into the crowd; while watching Naruto gingerly inching it up Ino's bestockinged leg, much to everyone's amusement (and three people's slight dismay), that he finally commented. "I see you found your 'something blue'."

Hinata turned a very slight pink, but it was alright, it was her wedding after all. "It was very… thoughtful of you." She managed to say. She didn't think she had it in her to articulate how very pink she'd turned when she realized what exactly had been in the mass of tissue paper. Or how weird it felt knowing _that_ was underneath her white wedding gown.

He placed a hand on her hip, right about where the rhinestone butterfly should be, and traced the uneven material gently. "All in the name of good luck."

"I doubt you'll have to worry about that. Everything is perfect."

She kissed him soundly to prove her point.


	16. InvincibleUnrivalled

I think we know how this works by now. I don't have anything to do with the production of the series, I remind you about it and suggest you give credit where credit is due, and then you read my babble, and life goes on. I really should spend more of my math classes actually doing math. I hate calculus. It spawns weird things. Case in point.

* * *

Theme 16 (invincible; unrivalled): There is more than comfort within knowledge. 

There are a multitude of descriptors that try to pen exactly what emotion is being felt at exactly which time. His were generally ascribed as being one of three. Tolerant, annoyed, or homicidal. But what did they know about him anyway? It took clearer eyes than theirs to see the nuances of emotion drifting behind the straight edge of his expression. There were times when even he could feel something reminiscent to rapture pulsing through the mass of his body; when despite everything, he felt invincible. Mostly it was in the knowing. Knowing that he was so far beyond the term 'human'. Knowing that his life was his again, to do whatever the hell he chose, knowing what his choices would lead to, knowing why he did or did not. Knowing that he had more than himself, he had her as well, and what more would he need to know he was unbeatable?

Knowing she spent time with her teammates, her eyes brightened like evaporating clouds. The slightest word of praise made them glitter like the ocean reflecting the moon. Knowing when she was concentrating on her techniques, they hardened with another layer of pearl. On the rare occasion Naruto said something considerate or insightful to her, her eyes sparkled with stardust.

But knowing when she was alone with him, only a breath separating them, it was like the very beginning of the universe, where there were no apt metaphors to describe the feeling, because nothing had suddenly become everything, and the words didn't yet exist.

Who said ninjas couldn't be poetic?

-------

She was selfish, she decided, taking advantage of his strange attraction to her. She couldn't help it, it burned hotter and steadier, the difference between the flames and the sun. The sun could only scorch those who tried to hold it; it caressed whoever it wanted, and let the residual heat spill off in waves for the rest of humanity to absorb and be perhaps a little warmer. The fire of him drew her, like the proverbial moth, and all she wanted was to let it consume her; to die in the blaze, knowing she wasn't cold, she wasn't alone, that it would steal everything from her and that she would let it. She reveled in the feeling, of being unrivalled for once in her life. And what's more, he understood what it meant to her, knowing there was no one else. No one else to compare, to criticize, to improve. No one who needed to use her existence to affirm their own. No one who needed to devalue her in order to create 'worth' for themselves. He knew too well what it meant to be the only person in the world to someone.

She knew it when he let himself hold her in public. She knew it when he flawlessly delivered lines any fangirl would have fainted over, just because he could, because he wanted to. She knew it when he kissed her and the dark of his eyes slipped through his lashes, committing every last detail to memory. She knew it because he told her so, in as few heartfelt words as he could get away with.

Why shouldn't love be so easy as black and white?


	17. Kilohertz

It's a rush job, what can I say? I like making deadlines, and I'm going to be in Oz.

It's mildly dark, because finals suck. They sucked joy out of my life, that's for damn sure. My brain is kind of dead...

I don't own Naruto. It's better that way. Teehee... mildly psycho!Sasuke.

Kilohertz: one thousand cycles in one second, in this case, I'd say it's a pretty obvious reference to the Mangekyou Sharingan.

* * *

Theme 17(kilohertz): Crystalline 

He can't stop the visions; they coil around his gifted cursed eyes, burning poison into his sight. The cold crimson plays a destiny bleeding with memories; a voice from a time long ago speaks of the rest of his life. He doesn't want to see, not his youth, not this future, not _his_…

The chimeras pay no heed to his breaking mind.

He will learn why his love must come to hate, it is sealed in his blood, tainted as it is. His sweet, gentle, peaceful Hinata, the weak winter sunlight, throwing into bleak relief how desolate the rest of his world is.

She lives for him, he argues with the apparitions, and he—

_Lives for ghosts_, they laugh, high and innocent and childish cruel. _Everything precious gets taken away eventually. Stolen by chilled steel and shuttered silence. Abandoned because weakness claws at the soul and doesn't let go. Gone, betraying what little there was._

Realization comes like the slow thick trickle of a body with no blood left to pour out of slit veins.

_The one most treasured… the only way you will let yourself lose her… is to do it yourself. You know this, you have done it before. Cut your ties before they become so strong as to hold you. You will, you have…_

He can't stop the images from flooding his being; he will never be clean of them. They show him sharp lines, a scene he can't turn away from. He can feel the thoughts as if they were his own.

_They are not._

_They are!_ the voices crow, scratching the knowledge into live rivulets on his soul. _You would shatter her pale loveliness to keep it yours forever. You would keep the beauty of her eyes wide in fear; the staccato of her pulse, erratic and controlled like blood spattering against paper; the crying plea of colorless lips… You would keep it all your own, stealing her last breath with her last kiss._

He returns to himself, and finds her staring sightlessly at him, and he can't help the red bleeding into his irises. The last whisper still echoes hollowly over his heartbeat. _You didn't kill Naruto for your power… Are you stronger now?_


	18. Say ahh

Go me, I did it with days to spare! I only just remembered about it too. Took some authoretic liberties, but you know, I'm good at that. Blanket disclaimer no jutsu!

* * *

Theme 18 ('say ahh') : Ritual 

"If you mean it say it." Hanabi crossed her arms and looked pointedly at her older sister. The older sister studiously ignoring her as she knelt on the floor sorting through samples from her garden.

"Come on Hinata. Say-- ahh!" Hanabi rubbed her head and glared pain and suffering at her attacker. "What was that for?" she demanded angrily.

"Annoying your sister," came the calm reply.

"I wasn't annoying her. And you can feel free to leave."

"Make me, brat."

The sound of dried leaves rustling against each other whispered in the quiet after the challenge.

Hanabi narrowed her eyes, and fast as thought began going through hand seals. She stopped when the cold edge of a blade kissed her skin.

"_Without_ the Sixty-Four Palms, Hyuuga."

"What's the matter Uchiha? Don't think you could take being kicked out of the house by a teenager?" She lowered her hands reluctantly, and the metal left her neck.

"I don't think your sister would like it if I sent you into a wall."

"Don't forget where you are, Uchiha. You wouldn't want to have to fight your way into the Main house _every_ time you want to visit, would you?"

"Hanabi, don't threaten your guests." The coals rasped in agreement with the princess as they tumbled to join their fellows already in the brazier.

"It's not a threat, onee-sama, it's a warning. You know, it wouldn't be difficult. Neji still hasn't forgiven him for breaking in."

"Not my fucking fault he was getting ready to bathe," Sasuke muttered, flushing slightly at the memory of more than he ever wanted to know about the Hyuuga genius.

"It _is_ your fault if you can't follow simple directions. I gave you perfectly clear instructions on how to get into Hinata's room when you asked-"

"Sasuke!?" Hinata's sense of propriety warred openly with the shy adoration across her face. Water bubbled with laughter in its clay kettle.

"He just wanted to see you after your mission." Hyuuga eyes couldn't sparkle, but there was definitely a glimmer of something in Hanabi's. "It was so cute how worried he was when he heard you came home and collapsed into bed almost immediately."

"Brat, be quiet. I already got rid of Naruto, I don't need to deal with another wiseass today."

His soon to be sister-in-law reached for a weapons pouch that wasn't there.

"You're comparing me to _who _now? Do you _want_ to get out of this house alive?"

"Only if Hinata comes with me."

The clatter of porcelain against wood drew them both out of their weekly spat. Hinata's face was bright pink, and she was mopping at a pool of spiced tea seeping into the tatami.

"Sorry, I-I poured too fast... and the cup-"

Sasuke was beside her in an instant, ignoring her embarrassed fluttering, checking her hands and sleeves for spatters of the hot tea.

"Why are you always so startled when I say things like that?"

Hanabi heard teasing affection behind the low question, saw her sister stutter softly, murmured protests belying the glow devotion left on her cheeks. She coughed to break the moment, mildly resentful they were even having one in her presence.

"You still need me to say it, Hanabi?"

Hanabi pouted and stared at the floor, head tilted.

"I guess not. And it'd be too difficult to talk you into falling out of love with him." She shifted, not quite comfortable with the easy familiarity that came so naturally to the couple. "I'm- going to get the peaches and dango. Don't do anything inappropriate."

* * *

Bored at work! It happens. How else do you get a new story that doesn't really make any sense unless you're way into math? 


	19. Red

I have no excuses for being more than a little odd. Not apologising for it in the least, but I just thought I'd mention that I have no excuses. In case any of you were looking for them. I do get some leeway though. After all, I have to start everything over from scratch. Stupid fucker stole my laptop. I'm allowed to be mildly homicidal. Still.

* * *

Theme 19 (red) : Persephone

She gave in far too easily. Surely, as Hyuuga princess, she should have been able to, if not resist, hold out longer than she did.

But she's not thinking about that now. She's not thinking about how _easy _she was, how a look and a flower were all he needed to break through. All those years of building defenses against the harshest conditions; a little warmth in a world of cold and she was undone.

She's _not _thinking about that now. She focuses on something, anything else. The flower in the vase. The same blossom that started this. She'd been so surprised it wasn't white or pale of anything that 'reminded him of her' that she hadn't refused it. The black-red rose that made her think of his eyes. Probably, that had been the entire point.

_I'm not the person I show the world, she had tried to explain, and I doubt, if you truly knew me, you would want-_

_He had told her to be quiet and let me decide that for myself, now do you want anything to drink or not?_

_She was tempted to leave because she was cracking._

_She was more tempted to stay because she wanted to._

_In the end she said yes to a cup of tea because she found herself unable to do anything else._

_Eventually he had kissed her, a hard and demanding play of lips that snatched the breath from her body and left her reeling. He said the second kiss always tastes better than the first, and who was she to argue with Uchiha Sasuke when he was proving that the third was even better than the second_

She's eating, to take her mind off things, concentrating on the tart flavor burning the edge of her tongue, methodically ripping seeds out of the pomegranate, heedless of the red staining her mouth and fingertips. The half-eaten fruit rolls to the floor when he opens the door, but neither of them pay it any mind.

I like red on your lips, he tells her carelessly, it makes you look irresistibly inhuman.


	20. The Road Home

If I had anything to with it, this all wouldn't be fanfiction. I think I'm all typed out. I like my new scribble journal. Its creation moved me to write four new pieces. And I only made it last night. I'm uber-proud.

* * *

Theme 20 (the road home) : Compass  
There's a kiss of flame in the wind, teasing and light against her mouth. She might be able to find him, if she tried hard enough. But she wants to be surprised. And she doesn't want to disappoint herself. He is Uchiha Sasuke after all, and she…  
If she seeks him out now, calculates how long it will take him, she will worry if he shows up late. He might be ambushed or worse yet in the village without having come to her. She knows which one should be worse, but she can't help thinking... So they'll play it like a normal couple, as much as they can.

The road home would probably seem shorter if he knew, exactly, how far away it is right now. It's not _his_ damn fault all the mountains look the same. And they don't seem to get any bigger or smaller on the horizon, nature's own genjutsu, one even the Sharingan can't break. There's a fringe of green looming ahead, and he gladly lets it swallow him into the familiar puzzling lights of the forest canopy. There is someone waiting for him, after all.

The more laidback may say to focus on the journey, not the destination, but he thinks even Shikamaru would agree that it's easier to focus on a journey that isn't so bloody _long_. 


	21. Violence PillagePlunder Extortion

Oh the family issues, how they do everything to piss me off. Standard disclaimers apply, I need more distractions from my life. Because right now, being me kind of really blows. I hate the ending section. Someone tell me how I can word it better. Because I need to throw things at walls.

* * *

Theme 21 (violence; pillage/plunder; extortion): Burning Black

Her hands burn too bright and the log splinters under her palms. The memory of charred wood and asphyxiating air still grips her, and so she throws herself into every blow she makes. She doesn't care about her family's art, there is only becoming stronger. If she were able to pour out chakra so even the strikes that missed could kill, maybe her heart wouldn't ache so much. She can't stand to think of the remains of houses, to see the smudges of ash on her clothes, to imagine hearing the screams under the crackle of splitting paint. She can't imagine the faceless men who would use their skills to destroy, and she can't find allow the thought that they might continue to live to plague her. So she'll train until she those weaknesses die as easily as her enemies. Because she will not see her own home reduced to blackened memories and pain. So she forces the energy into her hands and continues to train, even though Sasuke will silently disagree with the cost of her humanity.

She comes home late, and her hands are harsh when she caresses him. He kisses the broken skin, because she forgets she is more than a ninja. He doesn't need the byakugan to find where she hurts, kneading her flesh beneath shinobi-hardened hands until she squirms away, disliking how easily the line between relief and pleasure is erased. He sees the same flames in her eyes sometimes, only hers is a distant fire fanned by the fates she can not touch. She fights for the nameless, the people who are the same from one place and the next. Her resolve slips as the knot on her hitai-ate loosens and falls, and sometimes then she'll forget everything but him. She'll remember soon enough, but for now, he lets Death kiss her hand before he gives it the finger, and they keep on as two ninja of Konoha.


	22. Cradle

Too many things to do, taking over the world included, however that's somewhere close to the bottom of my present to-do list. And my family doesn't help, but there's nothing to be done about that, because surprisingly, I'm a nice person. Sometimes. When I feel like it.

* * *

(theme 22, cradle) : Cat's Cradle 

It's small and grey and it seems to like her. It winds itself around her neck and chews on her hair and leans over to investigate her bracelet only to topple over. She catches it to the cradle of her arm, petting and soothing it. He watches with no small sense of impatience as the hairball determinedly scales her shoulder again to press its face into her cheekbone. Tiny claws flex to find purchase in the material of her jacket and a small pink tongue scrapes against her skin. He's getting very bored here, but something tells him she won't be very happy should he set fire to this establishment and all the furry menaces in it. They came here to find a gift for Ino, there's a cat basket with purple ribbons waiting in the living room, however he has a sinking suspicion that he's going to help wrestle two squirming lint traps into the plastic carrier in a few minutes.

Sure enough, Hinata takes the two most eager kittens home; and he has to suffer through her attempts to tie a ribbon around the blue eyed one. Eventually he gets tired of her gentle frustration, and makes use of his many shinobi talents to pick the stupid cat up and make a one handed bow that's tolerably presentable while it is still getting over the vertigo. Twenty seven fugitive feline missions have served him well in this respect. Hinata pecks him on the cheek in thanks and stands to make them lunch.

It's all frighteningly domestic, and by default he shouldn't have anything to do with it. That doesn't stop him from pulling her into the bend of his arm so he can trail his lips up her jaw. He pauses and looks mildly offended.

"You taste like cat."


	23. Candy

Laundry list of things that are not mine: Naruto, DMB, Utada Hikaru's gorgeous song Flavor of Life, any candy presently, which is the REAL tragedy of this story, and a partridge in a pear tree. Also, if someone's seen a muse wandering around, or maybe some bottled inspiration, you can ask me for my address. Muse responds well to duct tape and heavy sedation.

Sweet like candy to my soul

-Crash (Dave Matthews' shoutout to Sweet Briar College, it had to be done)

* * *

(theme 23; candy): Flavor of Life 

They say that eyes are the window to the soul. But who needs windows when they're Hyuuga? Hanabi marks everything _but_ eyes, because it's harder to act innocent when you accidentally lock gazes with your prey. Especially when he has the Sharingan.

Hinata is laid up at home, fighting off the remnants of a poisoned blade, so Hanabi went to the festival alone with her sister's teammates, and wondered if maybe she ought to buy her sister some candy. Or, at least have Kiba or Shino do the actually paying.

But the Uchiha has beaten her to it. He's got plain daifuku covered in snowy powder in one hand and a prettily wrapped rectangle of what looks to be strawberry chocolate in the other, and he can't seem to decide which would be better suited for his nurse-on-call/keeper/girlfriend. Hanabi puffs out her cheeks, avoids being stepped on by the mutt and sneaks over to the confectioner's booth.

"You could just get both," she informs him patiently, like he's a rather slow-witted student. She sorts through the colorful labels, unmindful of the icy glare the back of her head is receiving in return for her advice. She finds her confetti candy, sugar fireworks Hinata used to call them, and picks up two bags for herself.

The Uchiha hasn't moved in the time it takes her to pay and squirrel the packages away in her sleeve. She doesn't get what her onee-sama sees in him, but he does avoid the kunai that would have pinned the back of his robe to the ground, so maybe he has a few redeeming qualities. He hands her weapon back and she accepts it gracefully, demeaning her clumsiness. She flits away to enjoy the rest of the festival and let her sister's teammates spoil her.

-----

When she arrives at Hinata's window, she is unsurprised to see her sister sitting up and waving off the Uchiha's silent consternation. Next to her is a small mountain of candy. She slithers in before Sasuke kisses more than Hinata's fingertips, and proceeds to ignore him entirely. She tells her sister about the fireworks, how Naruto must have been behind the super big red spiral that was illegally launched from the top of the Hokage monument. She talks about the food and how the new class of genin wouldn't survive a real mission since none of them can catch fish with paper. Hanabi of course knows how and when to strike; but she also knows that if she brought home a festival fish, the huge old koi in the pond wouldn't even notice if they accidentally swallowed it. She had begun to remark on the amazing properties of chakra and how one could theoretically use it to strengthen the paper, but Akamaru tripped her and Shino, in trying to save her, ended up clapping a hand over her mouth. He and Kiba both were properly apologetic and Hanabi flirts a painted paper fan over her fingers smugly.

She presents her sister with her gift, a bright red pinwheel she got the man to paint two black tomoe on, because three just looks silly. She holds it up and brings a finger down onto the folded scarlet so Hinata can see the spinning Sharingan. Through the flickering edges of red paper petals, she thinks she sees Sasuke smiling at Hinata smiling at her. Maybe.

Hinata reminds her that she has endurance training in the Forest of Death with her cell, so Hanabi dutifully traipses off to bed. But not before handing her sister the pinwheel and whispering that now she didn't need an Uchiha, she has Kakashi-sensei's other half.

-----

"You didn't have to spend so much on me," she reproaches him gently, gesturing to the pile of sweets, breaking the silence left in Hanabi's wake.

"I didn't know what you wanted," he counters, almost sulkily.

"I would have been happy with anything you brought."

"I didn't know what you _wanted_," he repeats stubbornly.

"Hanabi will get to most of these before the week is out. I certainly wouldn't be able to eat—" She can't get the rest of her sentence out around his fingers and the sweet taste of red bean and mochi.

"People die choking on mochi," she tells him as soon as she can.

"You think I'd let you die from dessert?"

"I'm the medic nin here."

He gives her a look that speaks of his utter dismissal. "Uchiha," is all he says, and she reads dogged determination and superiority and general getting-of-his-way from the name.

She straightens against her pillows. "Hyuuga," is her counter, and the grey of her eyes hardens in mock offense.

He reaches for her. "Mine," is whispered against her temple, "to protect and keep."

"Even if I lose against a box of candy?"


	24. Good Night

Apparently I'm on a song kick. Finalz eet brainz. Blanket Disclaimer no Jutsu. Everything that's not mine does not belong to me. I'll be in a corner with a pile of books, so don't bother me.

I want a girl with lips like morphine,  
Knock me out every time they touch me.

-Lips like Morphine by Kill Hannah

* * *

(Theme 24 good night) : Healing Touch

He was sore and in ten different kinds of pain and it was a separate class of annoying trying to get comfortable on a hospital bed when moving hurt more than staying still, which also hurt. And it was even more annoying that Hinata insisted on maintaining a professional manner with her patients, shacking up or not.

"Hey Sasuke, we've got a few problem patients. Some wiseass thought it would be good to send the children's wing a batch of 'get-well' cookies. Hinata will be around eventually."

Sasuke bit back a growl. He was almost tempted to ask for a replacement nurse, but he_really_ didn't trust anyone but Hinata to have her hands on his drugged up and helpless body.

When the door opened again, Sasuke had to lower his line of sight to the small green-haired child, and sighed with something akin to disappointment.

"Toki-chan?" "She has complications on top of lung damage, she can't have gotten far!" "Jun-san, if you think lung damage is enough to stop a child, you have no idea what it means to be raised by ninja, right Hinata?"

He knew he shouldn't have, but he formed the seals any way, and within a minute a small fiery tiger was playing in the chakra from his fingers. The girl drew closer, fascinated by the flame. A second before the knock, the creature disappeared.

"Sasuke-san, have you seen- Toki-chan!"

"Hinata." He tried not to look too impatient.

"Toki-chan, it's time to say good night, you don't want to bother Sasuke-san, right?"

"Don't wanna say g'night,' protested the child sullenly.

"But if you don't take your medicine and rest, you won't get better, and you'll have to stay here longer," Hinata tried, reluctant to catch a child that was this unwilling to be caught. The girl was thinking through the problem, and she didn't think Sasuke was more appealing than getting out of the hospital sooner.

"Toki will stay here and rest!" she decided loudly, climbing up into the empty space by Sasuke's arm. Hinata looked on in horrified amusement.

"Hinata, have you found her yet?" came a voice from the hall.

"Yes, but…"

Sakura stuck her head into the room just in time to see Toki plant a big wet kiss on a stupefied Sasuke's cheek.

"I wish I had been that lucky fifteen years ago," she commented. "If she's anything like Ino, we may as well just leave her. At least she'll stay put." She began pushing Hinata out, fighting to keep her smile from showing. "Come on, we have other patients to take care of."

"Uzumaki, if you leave without this child, I will tell your husband you think you should have ramen for dinner every night."

"Oooh, he's _mean._ Toki-chan, come away from the nasty old man." Sakura moved to scoop up the girl, who clung tighter. They were glad to note that at least she wasn't on Sasuke's injuries. "Hinata, you may have to pull out the big guns."

Hinata sighed and pinched the air in front of her. She blew gently and sparks of chakra scattered from her fingertips. While the girl stared, Sakura got close enough to prick her with the syringe that had been waiting for half an hour. She went limp almost immediately, and Sakura picked her up.

"I'll leave you to tend to problem patient number twenty four." Hinata blushed and Sakura slid out of the room shutting the door behind her.

"Well, thank you for luring her in here, if nothing else."

Sasuke looked at her in consideration. "Do I get a finder's fee?" He stole the hand resting on his forehead. Her skin was cool except for the tips still warm from chakra.

She held up his morphine dosage. "Good night, Sasuke."


	25. Fence

It occurs to me... that work drains my creative processes. Iunnwannapplytgradkool. I don't, I don't, I don't. Do you think they'd buy it if I pretended to be a throw pillow? I don't own Naruto. If I did, do you think I'd need to fight tooth and nail to lay around and be creative once in a while?

* * *

(Theme 25; fence) On the Fence

Hyuuga Hanabi was on the fence. Literally and metaphorically. She had already accepted that the last Uchiha had grown into his arrogance (which was apparently a really big space to fill), and really was serious about marrying into the Hyuuga (which required a lot of that above-mentioned arrogance). But she hadn't quite accepted that he was walking around in her gardens like he owned them (she was watching him do it too), even though he _knew_ she was there and that these plots were hers, unalive as they were, and really, Hinata had no taste in men. She supposed she should be glad he wasn't mad at her (yet), and hadn't thrown anything. She wouldn't have been able to guarantee that it would have missed, given how heavy a winter kimono was after four straight hours of Juuken training. She could feel the even edge of wood pressing into the soles of her feet and the heels of her palms, but she kept still. She just had to be sure.There were some things that were pure simplicity to decide on, like tea or coffee, cake or ice cream, dogs or cats (coffee, ice cream and cats, most definitely cats). Others required thought and reason and logic and evidence and an act of god before a conclusion could be drawn. Like this. Uchiha Sasuke had to be cheating on Hinata, that was it, and she was going to grind him to a pulp and fertilize her peony plants with him. Sure the girl _looked_ like Hinata, _walked_ and _tripped_ like her, stifled the same little gasp she did, blushed the same when she saw Sasuke watching her with that over-arrogant, mildly amused smirk he always reserved for her sister, asked 'Hanabi, what are you doing up there? Please don't say you offended somebody' the exact same way her sister would have done… none of that meant this was actually Hinata, and not some particularly skilled ninja with an illusion or something.

Because that would mean, Hanabi tightened her grip on the wood (and felt it splinter a little, so she let up), it would mean that Hinata was flouting authority and important guests and good table manners, and that she was doing all those just to see Uchiha Sasuke. He was cheating on her. It couldn't possibly be her sister telling her to go back inside, she'd only be a minute, couldn't possibly be Hinata brushing invisible snow out of Uchiha Sasuke's hair, could most definitely not be the girl she used to beat without breaking a sweat leaning up to meet this guy halfway in a kiss. Not an ice cube's chance in…  
Hanabi was pulled off her position on the fence by the vise-like grip of reality in the form of her cousin. She supposed that decided it. Hinata had really bad taste in men.


	26. If Only I Could Make You Mine

This is me ignoring homework and pushing the envelope on deadlines. So what else is new? Standard disclaimers apply, and stick. Like what happens to Laura's mummy-chicken when it's thrown against a wall. I'm going back to bed, please leave any complaints in their pigeonholes, it's just not worth it.

* * *

She is untouchable, apart from this world, but trapped in its mundanity anyway. It's too late to fall in love with her, but human nature is never so compliant. Because he is who is his, the fleeting fondness he held when she was simply a familiar presence of pale comfort turns to want when he is told he can not have her. She tells him she loved him for so long now, since before they became genin, since she stalked him slurping ramen, since she learned what true warmth felt like. She tells him she's getting married, and she didn't want to leave this a loose end, and that she doesn't want him to love her, she just wanted to tell him for her own sake, and that of her marriage, because she wants to make sure it ends. She bows goodbye and leaves, never once meeting his eyes, and he is left, speechless and confused. He thinks about not having her there, about her leading a clan he vowed to change himself. It didn't mean much when he was twelve, that he said he would change the Hyuga for her, but now it sounds like he made a promise to her, _for her_. He does love her, like he loves this village, like he loves learning, like he loves everything; with all his heart, with all his determination, with all his body.  
He finds her the next day, walking with Neji and Sasuke and Hanabi, and he acts on his all encompassing affections and kisses her, there in the street, in front of the people in the stores and the passersby. Neji sends him into a wall, and dazedly he watches as if through water and a hundred years as Sasuke's arm comes around her and she clings to him weakly, burying her face into his shoulder.  
"You shouldn't go around kissing other people's fiancées, you know," Hanabi informs him. "Even if she has bad taste in men, you're too late to take advantage of that."  
Hinata approaches, not fighting to Sasuke's claim on her hand, and Naruto has to look up into red eyes. Hinata reaches for his face, hand glowing green, her touch is cool and impersonal and efficient. He had never known Hinata could be cold.  
"Don't. I loved you, but this isn't that. I want to be happy with Sasuke; I want to change the Hyuga with him. So, please don't."  
She turns to leave him again, but this time, she glances back, he isn't angry or upset, just blank and she hates herself for being the one to do it.  
"He's my rival, remember?" Sasuke states quietly. _If only I could make you mine, completely, so you wouldn't remember, so I wouldn't worry, so you wouldn't have gone to him last night. My wife, my bed, my family._  
"He made a promise to me. And I've made my promise with you. Your wife in more than just name." She clasps his hand tighter, feeling him warm for her. More than just doing this, she wants it, like she hasn't wanted anything else. It means more to her than Naruto's smile that she is able to have what she wants. 


	27. Overflow

That part where I could be doing more useful things... believe me when I say this ain't it.

* * *

Theme 27 (overflow) : Discretion

She is nervous, as is to be expected; she's getting married after all. A decade ago, Uchiha Sasuke would _not_ have been who she had planned on sitting next to. Other girls have their weddings plotted out years in advance, during one of those 'phases'. She has never held such high hopes for herself. It would have been enough that the Clan approved.  
She couldn't sleep last night, worrying about everything that could go wrong, this _is_ a ninja village after all, and she's still not sure her family likes him, and there are a dozen things she still can't remember if she resolved. She couldn't eat this morning, the mere thought of it made her rather ill, and she couldn't get into her kitchen anyway, since it had been overrun by aunties she couldn't remember the names of at the moment. She was terrified she would somehow be responsible for everything that would mar the memory of this day, like she had been responsible for all the failure marring the name of Hyuuga.  
Somehow her friends and family get her into her kimono properly, keeping it white and maidenly as it should be. They get her hair up and no one loses an eye, they get her face painted, but it's hard to know which is the natural porcelain of her skin and what has already been covered by the slick frost.  
On her last cup of sake, the first starts taking effect and her hands shake as she lifts the bowl and it spills over her trembling fingers. She can't move, horrified by the mishap, made worse because she knows her body well enough to realize she had absolutely no tolerance for alcohol; she remains frozen, unable to do _anything_. Sasuke notices her in her stupor, and figures he should have known having a family was overrated if they made you do stupid stunts like this. He's not the one that gives a damn about the ceremony or formality, so he leans over and raises the traitorous cup to her lips himself, catching her hand to lap the sake off her fingers in a lewd kiss. It's instinct and more that makes her gulp reflexively, and she thanks every deity she knows that she didn't choke on the last drop.

She stutteringly asks him why he did it, earning them both shocked offense, when she's been dealing with those piercing eyes all her life.  
"It's not official until both cups are empty, right? I wasn't going to wait another six years to marry you because you were having a staring contest with it."  
She blushes out of habit, even though she's supposed to be used to him by now, she just can't stop her feelings from flowing over, washing away any sense of decorum or dignity, any sense at all Hanabi might have said. She kisses him before she remembers that's the one thing she _shouldn't_ have done. She peeks at him through her lashes, and can't help laughing at the spot of alabaster white on his nose.  
No one lets him wash it off though, because no one who fears him dares to tell him it's there. His friends are too amused to ruin it, and everyone gives Hinata a warning look before she can reach up and wipe it off. Naruto will probably tell him after the honeymoon. Probably.


	28. Wada Calcium CD3

This COULD be me being productive... but I wouldn't put money on it. Dedicated to **Renoa Heartilly**, who appears to be in a slump, and **Aixyutin .x. Nanthakon** because _The Commonplace Anthology_ makes me happy.

* * *

Theme 28; Wada Calcium CD3: Bitter Pill to Swallow

Sasuke has been taking a lot of ribbing from his so-called friends. They say it's because some Uchiha wannabe is the reason behind the fire in the west shopping district. Hinata says nothing and remains lost in her own thoughts. He isn't worried.  
She is distracted, despite the fact that she is wrapped around his arm. They are wandering the south shopping center for no reason that he can see, but her eyes light up when she spots something down the street and asks him to wait for her, she'd only be a minute. It takes a quarter of an hour, and she comes back a little breathless and slightly pink. Undoubtedly because she lost track of the time and tore down the street so as not to keep him waiting any longer. He isn't particularly put out, he often loses track of time during training.

It's purely coincidence that he spots Hinata earnestly in conversation with Akimichi Chouji a block away, and _he_ talking animatedly about something. He isn't worried.  
He isn't stalking her, he just happens to be two roofs away when she stops in at the Akimichi family's store. Three days straight, the same time every afternoon, she pops in for a few minutes, and he just happens to be in a spot where he can see her disappear under the awning. It shouldn't be hard to convince himself there is nothing out of the ordinary. The gap between the Uchiha and the Akimichi is entirely too large in so many ways that it's stupid to even think about. A quietly cynical voice points out that that isn't necessarily a count _against_ Chouji, being so different from Sasuke.

Hinata has been in there for over half an hour. He leaps down, preparing himself to do something stupid if he absolutely must, but the door opens before he can. If he hadn't devoted so much time and effort to Hinata's legs, he wouldn't have known it was his girlfriend behind the massive bags obscuring her face.  
"Hinata?"  
"Sasuke? What are you—"  
He reaches in a plucks a bottle out, and reads **Wada Calcium CD3** on it. It might be the lamest pretense ever, or…  
"Ah… please don't! I've got them all arranged already. That was in Auntie Hirako's… or maybe it was Uncle Homura's… oh dear."  
Sasuke puts the bottle back exactly where it was and takes the bags from her.  
She thanks him sweetly, softly prattling about how that awful fire destroyed the apothecary/pharmacist her relatives favored, and how kind the Akimichi family was to help her. He acknowledges that she probably would have been too shy to approach a bunch of strangers to ask for _this_ much crap all at once. He spends the rest of the walk back to her estate reaffirming that it's _still_ no contest between him and Akimichi.  
He isn't so absorbed that he doesn't claim a delivery fee from her as she takes back her shopping. He kisses her back into the wall, angling himself between the bags in her arms, kisses her until they fall and her precious arrangement is ruined and she's too dazed to register it.

* * *

That would be me... taking advantage of the Akimichi LACK OF BACKGROUND. Also... Chouji was so popping pills for two straight episodes. It needed to be referenced.


	29. The Sound of Waves

d-e-d dead. I can't think of a title that doesn't suck. I guess it's okay, since I don't really make a living from this. Not mine, probably not yours either, don't whine. Also... the rules of the LJ comm say that the themes and the requisite kiss do not have to be as literal and painfully obvious as some of you seem to think they must be. I know what I'm doing a long length better than that.

Once a ripple came to land  
In the golden sunset burning—  
Lapped against a maiden's hand,  
By the ford returning.

- A Ripple Song, Rudyard Kipling

* * *

Theme 29 (the sound of waves) : A Ripple Song

It's not easy to tear down the foundations of a country, even a small one, and build something great. Hinata knows this, because a large family isn't so different either, and she's still trying to change.

It's an important thing they're doing, aiding the Land of Waves. It's a special favor, because Naruto himself couldn't go. Hinata must protect these scrolls with her life. Sasuke must protect Hinata.

They are two silent but for the soft tap of their shoes touching bark. The whistling rush of air as they leap is a mere whisper, easily lost in the sound of waves.

Sasuke doesn't talk, Hinata doesn't know what to say. She can't pull out the courage to ask how missions have been, why he grimaces slightly when salted winds kiss their faces, why his expression becomes cold and immutable when they come to the bridge.

He practically races through, forcing Hinata to bow apologetically to the villager who wanted to tell her about the bridge and its namesake. She murmurs a quick 'Yes, I know. He is a wonderful person' before running to catch up with her partner.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, the official they are making the delivery to also wants to talk about Uzumaki Naruto, as the Land of Waves is still so indebted to him and-

Sasuke answers questions curtly, when he does at all, leaving Hinata to stammer our fuller explanations. Sasuke says nothing about being a teammate, about being _there _when it happened, about Naruto and his thick skull and flapping mouth. Finally they find and opening and pounce on it, thanking the prattling woman for her patronage, and escape.

* * *

They stop to eat. The air around Sasuke is heavy and oppressive, but Hinata has nothing to help him.

"Fucking Naruto," he says suddenly, "always sticking his nose where no one wants it."

Hinata can only nod warily; because it's _true_, but it's not something to complain about from what she has seen.

"You know he's trying to set us up." Sasuke is still venting. "Stupid moron thinks everyone needs his fucking help."

"I-I don't mind it," she finds the nerve to whisper.

"If I'm going to ask you out," he fixes he glare on the table, "it _won't_ be because that idiot is somewhere behind me with his girlfriend waiting to make fun of us."

"O-oh." Hinata isn't quite sure what this means or what to make of it, so she stares down at her half empty cup and counts ripples.

"The hell with this," he breaks the silence again, resignedly. "Hyuuga, go out with me."

She can only stare dumbfounded, but he's quite serious and more than a little embarrassed, and finally she nods and hides her face behind her hands.


	30. Kiss

DONE! insert fireworks In case you need help figuring it out. This is a patchwork piece of different non-chapter fics I've written, and the last line of all them is** THE SAME** and found at the very, very bottom. Good thing it's a nice short line, and if this is beyond the comprehension of the average reader... I need to set up like an intellectual obstacle course for this page, because I don't approve of stupidity on the internet.

Standard disclaimers apply and stick, like the antithesis of Teflon.

* * *

Theme 30 (kiss) : Finale

_The S in Supermodel_(see 7. superstar)  
"You know, they're only taking this many pictures because they think you're cheating on me with your best friend." She smiles brilliantly at the cameras.  
"That would amuse me more if my 'best friend' weren't a complete moron, my rival and blond." He pulls her out of the way of a storming starlet.  
"But you don't mind that Naruto's male? I knew you weren't completely straight. Heteroflexible at very least."  
"I can see why your agency never lets you talk."  
"They're just respecting my wishes. People asking me about you isn't what I want to do after a concert. Why talk about you when I can talk _to _you?"  
He stops abruptly on the red carpet and brings her hands to his heart.

………

_Business Arrangements_ (see 10. #10)  
He's old friends with his wife, and she's hiding behind her wedding band from the slew of people who think her face and money mean she makes it a point to fit international scandals in between visits to the spa. He tells her, his business arranged escort for the month, over scotch and ice that he thinks she's falling in love with his chauffeur. Which is fine with him, because he's a nice guy, and they're not lovers, never have been.  
Hinata nods, sympathetically she hopes, and pours him another drink. She's only supposed to make sure his stay in New York is pleasant, and if that means shooting weak coffee while he gets plastered in his hotel room, so be it. She might maybe get something useful out of him, but it's doubtful. He's made it a point in the last nine days, never to talk business unless in a conference room.  
She got them cleared to go up the Empire State Building at 10 in the evening, had a restaurant completely emptied for the two of them and a bottle of Pinot Noir, and she's spent more money on clothes than she did for her first two apartments, because he didn't think her usual office attire was good enough to be on his arm. Her feet hurt from the pinched toes of her shoes and having to skip around town to answer his every whim.  
But she's having fun. The subway is an adventure in map reading still, and Sasuke is amused rather than angry when she has to give up and pull on someone's sleeve to ask where they are.  
He takes her teacup from her and waves his half empty glass in her face, telling her she can't keep him company when he's drinking and she's not. She protests, citing professionalism, low tolerance, having to get back home afterward and a dozen other things; everything except that she might be falling in love with him.  
He sets the drinks down and leans into her personal space, a rich darkness underneath the smell of alcohol.

………

_After Work Special_ (see Around Again)  
Summer sees a distinct shortage of skirt length in the office, especially around Uchiha Sasuke. The only people who dress for practicality are the mature ones, and those just not interested. Hinata presumably being mature, because she's definitely interested. He can't think of any other reason for her to turn the color of a cherry when she accidently looks at him. She makes it a point not to be anywhere alone with him.  
He's admiring the lines of her legs while she's bent over trying to find her lunch in the mess someone, probably Naruto, has made of the company fridge. She finally emerges with her food, and nearly upsets her thermos over his head when she turns to find him standing not three inches from her, an almost predatory look in his eyes. She stifles a squeaky noise of surprise and backs up only to find the freezer in the way.  
He reaches out and she feels her face heat up yet again. He snags his bottle of water and pulls away like it's nothing at all she's half afraid, half hoping he's going to ravish her in the kitchen.  
"Excuse me," she says quickly, moving around him to get out of this mess of uncomfortable, but his free hand is wrapped around her wrist.

………

_High School Romantique_ (see Queen of Hearts. Out of the Blue)  
Hinata was well aware that her best method would be to pretend nothing at all had happened, and hope someone more suitable caught his attention.  
Her heart beat quicker when he met her eyes in the middle of lecture and smirked just a tiny bit. But that could always be explained away by her infamous nervousness.  
She decided she was right and he was childish, and fate was kind of mean when she twisted her ankle on a school staircase and therefore was stuck in the rain waiting for the next bus, which was running late, because she hadn't been able to get to the station in time for her usual because of her foot.  
She spent graduation day hobbling around her apartment and making tea, hoping to every deity she could remember the name of that Sasuke had forgotten his promise and that she lived on the same hall and had given him a spare key five years ago.

She heard the scratch of someone fighting with her slightly rusted doorknob, and willed herself to believe it was just the landlady letting herself and her awfully strong herbal tea in.  
"You missed the last day of school."  
"I'm a teacher. It's not unusual," she sniffled and reached for a tissue. "Go home and celebrate."  
"You are a teacher," he allowed. "But I'm not your student any more, so you can't tell me what to do."  
"Sasuke, please, I'm sick and sore and I don't know what to say to you."  
He sighed and trapped her hand in his. She tried to glare down at him, but that hadn't worked for three years since he was a good bit taller than she now, and certainly nothing like the little boy she remembered.

………

_Amaryllis Arc_ (aka everything parading around as canon; look up amaryllis in the language of flowers if _have_ to know)  
He catches her as she is coming out of the Hokage Tower. She looks surprised to see him, like she didn't think he'd be a normal kind of boyfriend.  
His hand is around her elbow, and he pauses, unsure of what he's supposed to do now, only that he wanted to see her after her mission so much that he was seen by several people waiting outside looking _nervous_.  
She senses that they are at an impasse and looks up at him shyly. "D-do you want to go for a cup of tea?"  
He nods and lets her lead the way.  
They sit in silence, he trying to think of something to break it, she wondering why he looks uncomfortable.  
"How was your mission?" he asks finally, pissed that this is the only thing he can come up with.  
"It was alright. The last few have been simple, if not quick. I think the Hokage is giving me these missions, not because of my bloodline, but to get me away from my family."  
"Still not used to me?"  
"No one will ever be 'used to you', Uchiha-sama."  
They fall back into quiet. She finishes her tea and he pays for the both of them. Evening descends softly in warm grey skies. He walks with her back to her apartment, well away from the Hyuuga compound. He tries to start a conversation again, but she stops him by speaking first, staring at the wall fixedly, bright red in the dim light.  
"Y-you don't have to try so hard. I… I like you, so—"

………

"Hinata, kiss me."


End file.
